Sigh no one RSVP our invitation for dinner on 初一. See what you have missed ... Don't drool!
 Another round of Lo Hei Yu Sheng |
 Lo Hei with Sashimi Ocean Trout |
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 Chilli (Blue Swimmer) Crab |
 Yummy! True Blue Singapore Signature Dish |
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 Great Dinner! |
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Ah ain't it fast it's Chinese New Year again! Well this time round, Ken and myself will not be too busy eating but rather we will be busy preparing an assumptious reunion dinner meal! Food wise, we did well in preparation but we are lacking the festive noise & atmosphere. Come on, bring some noise over ;-)
Ok below is our menu, Ken created it! Not bad yah? Think we can open an eatery here?
 Raw ingredients for our Satay Bee Hoon |
 Lo Hei |
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 4 types of Raw Fish going into the Lo Hei |
 Preparing the Raw Fish |
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 Home Made Lo Hei Yu Sheng |
 Let's toss it higher, higher & higher |
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 Yummy |
 Aerial View of our Reunion Dinner - 3 courses here |
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 Entree |
 Main Course |
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 Very Satisfied :-) |
 Wow look at the huge prawns |
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 Dessert |
 Wow we did a good job! Food was enough for 4 persons. |
Another CNY goodie to add to the lot - Kueh Bang Kit. Too bad our Kueh Bang Kit wasn't that good. It wasn't those that would melt in your mouth. But anyway given it our first attempt, I must say we did OK. :P
Oh the shape of our Kueh Bang Kit are like buttons because we do not have a rolling pin and cookie cutters. We merely roll the dough into tiny balls and flatten it a little. Heh make do with whatever we have.
 1st lot of Kueh Bang Kit (White buttons) |
 2nd batch and some goofing around |
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 Smiley |
 What happened to my nose? |
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 Product Shot 1 - Any orders? |
 Our 1st Attempts. I must say we did Excellent! |
Hmm since I've got a craving for Kueh Lapis, I think we may attempt that sometime this week. :-) Patience will be a key ingredient I suppose.
To spice up the Chinese New Year mood and also to statisfy some cravings, we made Hay Bee Hiam Roll. No Joke it's hard work rolling the tiny shrimp roll. Cooking the Hay Bee Hiam wasn't that bad but the rolling part is so intricate. Ken got rather good and fast at rolling towards the end of the lot.
We made a total of 197 of those tiny shrimp roll. It took us a total of about 2.5 hrs including cooking and preparation time of the Hay Bee Hiam. Anyway it was good coz we didn't feel like stepping out as the day (Saturday) was terribly hot - 40 degrees celsius.
Now we are getting more "adventurous" with making our own CNY goodies. I wonder what we will be doing this week. Ken has requested Kueh Bang Kit. Hmmm...
 That's our last lot of Hay Bee from Singapore |
 Cooking the Hay Bee Hiam |
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 Our shallots got too burn hence the black specks amongst the hay bee |
 No Joke! As Ken puts it "Need to have Kai En's hands to roll"! Kai En is my cousin - 4 years old |
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 The Lot of Stuff |
 Ready to be fried |
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 Our Hard Work |
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 2 of those weighing about 650 grams cost us A$5 |
 Frying |
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 Almost ready to be served |
 Yummy! Sweet Chilli Crab |
We decided to embark on Project:Pineapple Tarts as Chinese New Year draws nearer. It was our first attempt and we did everything from scratch! Yes even the pineapple jam and gosh pineapple here are so costly. 1 pineapple is about AU$4.00 as compared to at most SG$1.00.
We prepared the jam one day before and left it in the fridge hoping it would dry up most of the moisture however it didn't really worked. Ken had to use his force and squeeze as much of the moisture out. Making the pastry was an easy task as I applied what I've learnt in Home Economics. ;-) We made a total of 117 tarts in 1 afternoon!
Verdict: Since the evening was nice (about 20 degrees Celcius), we decided to go for a stroll along Alexandra Ave and around the Botanic Gardens, Observatory, Government House, Shrine of Remembrance & part of Yarra River. I think it's a 2KM plus circuit.
Pastry - Soft and Texture is good. Crumbles in your mouth!
Jam - Not fragrant & sweet enough but passable. :-)
 Preparing the dough |
 Dough is Ready |
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 Rolling into balls since we do not have a pastry cutter |
 Ready for pineapple jam fillings |
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 Flattening it |
 In goes the jam |
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 Getting the hang and rolling it back in shape |
 Perfect? Ken found out that rolling into balls would be nicer and more uniform. |
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 A fraction of the lot |
 Glazing |
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 Ready to be baked |
 Can you smell them? Hmmm Yumm... |
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 Nicely Packaged too! :-) |
 Victorian style building in Botanic Gardens |
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 Observatory |
 Melbourne City Scape along Yarra River |